Information technology (IT) business-alignment is a key component of managing data and information within the context of business operations. However, achieving this can be quite difficult for many businesses due to being time-consuming and costly. As this alignment process is dynamic in nature, one approach can be to align IT with a business during the early stages of an IT lifecycle. Another strategy might be to approach IT-business alignment during the later stages of the IT lifecycle, such a during the delivery of IT systems. Finally, aligning a business during the stage of IT changes is another possibility. For instance, this could include making changes to a current IT system (e.g., establishing mobile payments and social media), to change customer relationships, business operations, and business models.

There is no single approach to how firms should leverage IT investment, as some may choose to implement IT-business alignment at the early stages of the lifecycle, while others might see benefits at the later stages. However, little is known about which of the IT-business alignment approaches provide the greatest returns to IT investment. Uncovering this information could be vital for firms to better understand the timing and best approach to implementing their IT-business alignment.

One argument is that IT-business alignment during the early stages of the IT lifecycle is more critical that at the later stages, as it allows firms to make focused investments from the very beginning. That said, it has also been suggested that implementing this at the later stages could be a better option, as it allows firms to adapt by aligning changes in business needs and technology environments.

To investigate this topic in more detail, a study by Terence J. V. Saldanha, Dongwon Lee, and Sunil Mithas put forward the following research question: “How does focus on IT–business alignment at the early stage (i.e., IT investment planning) versus later stages (i.e., IT delivery and IT change) compare in helping firms to leverage IT investments for firm performance?” The authors suggested that firms focused on alignment at the IT delivery or IT change stage of the IT lifecycle are better equipped to leverage IT investment to generate revenue compared to firms focused on alignment at the IT investment planning stage.

Their study used secondary data from over 120 firms in India that provided information on IT-business alignment. According to the authors, these firms differed “in terms of the stage of the IT lifecycle where they focused on alignment as the key priority.” Based on their study, the researches generated three key findings. First, the relationship between IT investment and firm revenue is stronger for firms that focus on IT delivery alignment when compared to firms focusing on IT investment planning alignment. Second, the relationship between IT investment and revenue is stronger for firms focusing on IT change alignment compared to firms focusing on IT investment planning alignment. Finally, their analyses suggested that high IT investment resulted in increased revenue when combined with IT delivery alignment or IT change alignment.

The researches explain, “our findings suggest that the effect of IT investments on firm revenue depends on the stage in the IT lifecycle during which alignment is focused on by a firm.” Additionally, they called for future studies to assess causality and generalizability, using methods such as structural models, case studies, or Bayesian networks. They also suggested expanding their study to other nations to allow for generalizability.